


Guide to the SGINA-verse

by alassenya



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010), Supernatural, The Sentinel
Genre: Gen, Meta
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-20
Updated: 2017-12-21
Packaged: 2018-01-20 02:53:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1493974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alassenya/pseuds/alassenya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A handy reference for readers.</p><p>Version 2 - December 2017 (Swifter than Reason)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Sentinels: Essential Background Information

**Author's Note:**

> Each story in the SGINA-verse focuses on a different sentinel-guide pair and can be read independently and in any order. Because they are all AU, you don't even have to be familiar with any of the fandoms (though it helps, of course). 
> 
> Chapter 1 - Sentinels
> 
> Chapter 2 - World History
> 
> Chapter 3 - Institutes
> 
> Chapter 4 - Internal Chronology of Stories
> 
> Note: Comments posted 15 Dec 2015 or earlier refer to version 1 of this guide.

Sentinels were first described in the late 19th century by the explorer Richard Burton. A sentinel is a person whose senses are distinctly more acute than average, and also more scalable. They have excellent distance vision but can also focus down to the microscopic level; they can hear very quiet sounds and also above and below the usual human range; they can smell and taste very small concentrations of substances; and they can feel minute irregularities in a smooth surface, faint infra-red traces and even ionising radiation. They are vulnerable to spikes (sudden intense sensory input causing pain) and zones (a trance state induced by too much concentration on a faint stimulus). With training, they can tune their senses up or down to suit the environment. Control is enhanced by the presence of a guide. Spirit animals may provide assistance when human senses are insufficient. Sentinels feel a strong territorial impulse which may make them antagonistic to other sentinels, and there is rarely more than one sentinel per village/tribe/town/unit.

[NB. The above is canon for The Sentinel (1996); the rest is SGINA-verse only.] 

Blair Sandburg and Jim Ellison met in the last decade of the 19th century. Sandburg published a monograph titled "A Modern Sentinel" in 1902 that complemented Burton's earlier work and brought attention to the existence of sentinels in Europe and the Americas. Further research on sentinels resulted in the establishment of the Sentinel and Guide Institute of North America (SGINA) in 1923, the Guild of Sentinels and Guides in the UK in 1925, and Institut Chasovykh (InChas) in the USSR in 1926. Identification and training was sporadic and haphazard at first, with little government support. 

During the Second World War, the military on both sides used sentinels for reconnaissance and espionage. They also developed quick sight and hearing tests to screen military personnel for sentinel traits, and some of these tests were later adapted for use in high schools. Sentinel and guide classes (and, in some locations, dedicated schools) were gradually introduced throughout the US and Canada. 

The utility of same-sex sentinel and guide teams during and after the war contributed to formal decriminalisation of homosexuality in Europe and Canada in the 1950s and acceptance of homosexuals in the military. The USA lagged behind in this respect but in 1972 eventually declared that homosexuality was no longer a bar to service in the armed forces and could not be used to evade the draft. Subsequently it was decriminalised in all states. After that, GLBT rights advanced steadily (partly influenced by SGINA and equivalents), resulting in the establishment of same-sex marriage in most western countries from the mid-1980s onwards (1992 Canada, 1994 UK, 1996-2003 in the US). Homosexuality remains a crime in the USSR, but is permitted between registered sentinels and guides as long as they are useful. [Note: the original term in German for a guide was _Führer_ but after the Second World War it was changed to _Helfer_ (helper)] 

Sentinels in western countries are usually employed in the military, law enforcement, and emergency services, and while there is considerable pressure to embrace public service, it is not a legal requirement. Public opinion is generally positive, though there are pockets of paranoia here and there. Sentinels in the Eastern Bloc are used to monitor suspected dissidents, and are feared and despised. Although the formal term in Russian is _chasovoy_ (sentry), they are colloquially known by the term _razvedchik_ (which can mean scout but equally can mean spy or secret service agent). 

There is a biochemical component to the bond. Separation, especially in the early stages of bonding, can cause physical discomfort, or bond stress. The range of symptoms varies from person to person, but non-specific symptoms such as headaches, nausea, myalgia and fatigue are all fairly common. Bond shock, a more severe syndrome, may occur either from bereavement or from prolonged separation, especially if the bond is new. SGINA and its equivalents have staff who can help sentinels and guides to overcome these symptoms and return to a more-or-less normal life. 

The genetic basis for sentinel abilities is not yet understood. There are familial clusters, supporting a genetic component, but cases are too sporadic and variable for simple Mendelian inheritance. The present (2010) view is that the condition arises as the result of several gene mutations plus epigenomic factors affecting expression. Consequently genetic screening would not be cost-effective and is not supported by SGINA or GSG. 

The USSR embarked on forced breeding programs in the 1930s to try and increase the numbers of sentinels, but found that sentinel-sentinel offspring had a very high incidence of sensory deficits and mental instability. Sentinel-guide offspring did not demonstrate sentinel abilities at a higher rate than the general population. Likewise, intra-uterine and neonatal sensory stimulation of "normal" children did not produce sentinels. The program was abandoned in the 1970s. 

In 2010 there were 417 high-five / high-four sentinels registered by SGINA (prevalence a little more than one in a million population), with another three thousand or so having 1-3 enhanced senses.. Not all of them are active, however. The UK has 83 H5/H4 teams. Figures for the USSR are not available. 

The following is a list of Sentinel occupations in Western countries (more or less in order of numbers) 

Armed Forces - reconnaissance, search and rescue (SAR), intelligence
Police / Law Enforcement - border security, SAR, intel, espionage
Emergency services - SAR, disaster response
Public health - doctor, nurse, psychologist, environmental health 
Industry - Occupational Health and Safety (inspections, enforcement), prospecting, SAR
International - weapons treaty inspectors (NNPT / CWC / BTWC)


Other occupations where enhanced senses are an advantage include the following: chefs, vintners, perfumiers, artists, musicians, and various sports. 


	2. World History: Differences in the SGINA-verse

Note: In addition to the major changes below, I have deliberately altered dates for some minor events where the change benefitted the story as a whole.

In 1972 the US government decriminalised homosexuality and allowed homosexual and bisexual entrants to all US Armed Forces. This removed a loophole that had seen many draftees evading conscription by claiming homosexuality and also removed the convoluted regulatory exception that the Army had been using to maintain same-sex sentinel-guide pairs. 

The [Metric Conversion Act](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metric_Conversion_Act) of 1975 was actually enforced, so the US went metric on 01 July 1977. Consequently all measures used in these stories are Système Internationale. 

During the 1970s a high level of terrorist action and a severe oil crisis led to the introduction of various laws limiting travel and assembly in the USA (and, to a lesser extent, in Canada, the UK & Europe). Specialist counter-terrorist units were set up in many countries, including England's CI5 in 1976. After various inter-agency turf wars and a spectacular and widely-publicised fiasco involving domestic terrorists in 1979, the FBI, ATF, DEA and US Marshals were amalgamated in 1982, becoming the Federal Law Enforcement Agency or FLEA (amusing as the acronym might be, it was considered to be better than the alternatives FALE, FBLE or OFLE). [Note: in the original version of the "Guide to the SGINA-verse" I included restrictions on reproduction but I couldn't make it work properly so I took it out.] 

The 1983 Canada Health Act made provision for a single health benefits entitlement card (Medicare card) for every Canadian resident. Health care is still provided by the provinces, but without those sneaky provincial residential qualifications. In the US, Medicare provisions were expanded to include most residents by 1990. 

Mikhail Gorbachev died suddenly in January 1986, just before the 27th party Conference. While the official cause of his death was announced as heart failure, it is widely believed that he was assassinated by hard-line communist conservatives. Consequently there was no Perestroika or Glasnost in the late 1980s, and the USSR and the Eastern Bloc remained in existence until late 2011, although there was increasing independence of satellite states through the 1980s and 90s. Constituent republics of the USSR began formal secession in 2005, a move which was resisted by the central Soviet regime, leading to local conflicts over much of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. The USA provided military assistance to some of these countries, ushering in a new era of proxy wars. 

"Croatoa" is not a real geopolitical entity, but for the sake of this series Croatoa is deemed to be that portion of Russia between the Black and Caspian seas, south of the Don and Volga rivers and north of Georgia (time zone is GMT +4). The capital city is Sochi.


	3. Institutes governing sentinels and guides in various countries

### 1\. SGINA

The Sentinel and Guide Institute of North America was founded in 1923. From the very beginning, strong efforts were made to maintain independence from the governments of USA and Canada. While the institute does receive some money from the government, the majority of funds come from donations (including bequests) and investments. 

Aims:

to identify, train and match young sentinels and guides;
to provide support, training and resources for families, friends and workplaces; 
to support the legal and human rights of sentinels and guides; and 
to provide legal and financial support where required.


SGINA headquarters is in Washington DC. It is concerned with strategic and international issues affecting the Institute and the sentinel and guide community as a whole, and acts as a lobby group when required. 

There are branch offices in Toronto, Vancouver, New York, Chicago, Dallas and San Francisco. The functions of the branch offices are:

to test sentinel and guide candidates;
to organise functions and activities where unbonded candidates can meet;
to confirm new bonds;
to conduct training of sentinels & guides;
to conduct training for teachers, guidance counsellors and other youth organisation leaders;
to liaise with local workplaces; and
to promote SGINA engagement with the community.


Field officers can be sent anywhere (including overseas) to examine newly presenting North American sentinels. 

**Allingham Park**

Allingham Park is the main training and rehabilitation facility, situated a few kilometres west of Fort Worth. It was established in the mid-nineteenth century by a cattle baron, Marcus Allingham, whose family originated in Cheshire. The estate was bequeathed to the Institute in 1955 by his grandson, Silas Allingham, whose daughter, Grace, was killed in the Second World War along with her sentinel. (Prior to that, SGINA had been based in upstate New York, but that facility was already overcrowded by the 1950s.) 

At 1608 hectares (3974 acres), Allingham is by far the largest SGINA campus. The Park itself is 94 hectares while the remainder of the land is leased out to a neighbouring farmer. On acquisition, the Institute implemented a tree-planting program around the Park which was very successful. The Park now comprises approximately forty hectares of woodland, a five-hectare home farm, and various gardens. 

Allingham House, the original building, is basically Georgian (Colonial Revival). The main façade faces south, with east and west wings extending to the north. There are three principal buildings beside the main house: Sandburg, the research block (built 1970s); Ellison, the health facility (built 1980s), and Burton, the residential block (built 1990s). Burton was designed to blend in with the main building and is connected to it by a covered corridor, while the other two buildings are more utilitarian. There are three small cottages on the outskirts of the park for sentinels and guides who need more privacy but still require medical supervision. 

The institute also owns several small estates in isolated areas for sentinels and guides to rest and recuperate. 

### 2\. The Guild

The Guild of Sentinels and Guides was established in the UK in 1925. Funding is through a government grant but is supplemented by private funds from industry and various individuals. The Guild itself is independent of, but works closely with, the British Armed Forces and the various police organisations in the UK who employ the majority of sentinel teams. 

The main office is in Greenwich, London and deals with international liaison, government liaison and lobbying. There are four branch offices (London, Manchester, Edinburgh and Belfast) concerned with identification, training and local liaison. 

Rehabilitation is carried out at a Ministry of Defence convalescent home in Hampshire. There are also small cottages available in Cornwall, the Lake District and the north of Scotland for teams who need rest but not supervised medical care. 

The Guild used to run a boarding school in Suffolk, but that was closed in the 1980s and replaced by after-school classes and holiday training programs.


	4. Internal Chronology of Stories

Each **NOVEL/NOVELLA** in the SGINA-verse focuses on a different sentinel-guide pair and can be read independently and in any order, while the **short stories** (timestamps and alternate points of view) should be read in connection with their parent works. Because they are all AU, you don't even have to be familiar with any of the fandoms (though it helps, of course). 

January 2004   
**PATHS UNCONFORMABLE1: THEREWITH INSTANTLY** (Supernatural, Sam/Gabriel)  
Summary: Sam meets Gabriel when a bomb is found at DFW airport.  
Posted DW & LJ July 2014.  
NB: under revision, so temporarily unavailable; will be posted to AO3 once completed.

January 2004   
(PU ficlet) **Hunt**   
Summary: Gabe searches for Sam (takes place during chapter 4 of Therewith Instantly).   
Posted DW & LJ July 2014.   
NB: will be posted to AO3 once Therewith Instantly is revised

May/June 2010   
(PU ficlet) **What Will Be, Is** (Sam/Gabe)  
Summary: A prologue to PU2.  
Posted AO3 December 2017

June 2010   
**PATHS UNCONFORMABLE 2: SWIFTER THAN REASON** (Supernatural, Dean/Cas)  
Summary: Dean is captured by Croatoan forces, Castiel rescues him.  
Posted AO3 21 December 2017

September 2010   
**PINEAPPLES ARE NOT THE ONLY FRUIT** (Hawaii 5-0, Steve/Danny)  
Summary: Steve is an unbonded military sentinel who meets Danny, a widowed guide, in Hawaii.   
Posted AO3 April 2014.


End file.
